Universalis, your very own breviary in pixels...

Thursday 17 September 2009

"I wasn’t born to be famous, but to love and serve Jesus Christ"

A fascinating, (I'll be the judge of that...," I say to Himself when he start a conversation that way,) storyof metanoia, conversion, choices:

Once a Calvin Klein model who smouldered bare-chested opposite J-Lo in a music video, and starred in Hollywood movies, [Eduardo] Verastegui's brooding looks and aquamarine eyes attracted thousands of (invariably screaming) female fans.

Today, the 35-year-old actor is a daily Mass-goer, committed to abstaining from sex before marriage, who flies to Darfur to help the starving, provides financial help for women considering abortions and organises house-building missions in Mexico....

[Six years ago] a casting director .. invited him to audition for [an English language film] . “I told him I barely spoke English” Verastegui recalls, “but he... promised me a language coach should I get the part.”

The coach, a committed Catholic, prompted by dint of gentle grilling, Verastegui’s reversion to the practice of his Catholic faith. “She used a Socratic method, just asking me questions: why had I wanted to become an actor in the first place? What did I think the true meaning of life? Was I really making the best use of my God-given talents.” Initially, Verastegui resisted. The crunch moment came when the coach asked if he believed his body “was a temple of the Holy Spirit.”

“I replied “yes” he recalls, and she said “then why are you living in a way that breaks the Commandments and offends God? For the first time I saw how my lifestyle had insulted the Lord,” says the actor, who next sought out a Mexican priest and poured out, in a three-hour confession, past sins.

The story that interests me isn't so much Verastegui’s, but the dialogue coach's -- talk about the lay apostolate!

And even though it is unlikely that she's as pretty as he is ;o) if I had it, hers would be the photo with which I would embellish this blog!

What's that question they ask, if you were accused of being a follower of Christ, would they be able to find any evidence to use against you?

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